Friday, April 16, 2010

Firing the Coach Won't Cure the 76ers' Ills

More pathetic than trying to pin the entire fiasco that is the 76ers on now-former coach Eddie Jordan (apparently he was the 7th coach in the 7 years since Larry Brown departed) is that the media took to quoting center Samuel Dalembert about Jordan's fate.

Why on earth would they do that other than the fact that Dalembert was available? They've seen the guy play, and he has a horrible basketball IQ. Sure, he can block shots, but that's about it. And Andre Iguodala? He won't be found anytime soon near the definition of on-court leadership.

You don't win without good players. And, even if you have good players, you need good chemistry and good leadership. All the 76ers need to do is look across the street at the Phillies to observe first-hand a great blend of talent, chemistry and leadership. The 76ers don't have much talent, their chemistry is terrible, and their leadership is non-existent.

So, what do you do? You fire the coach. Yet, you have players who make more than he does and whose contracts are longer. Most of them aren't NBA starters; none are first options, not even Iguodala, who can have his moments. They don't defend well, and reports were that some showed up late for practice consistently. The future looks bleak.

Many blamed Jordan, but what about GM Ed Stefanski? He took a team that ran well and was in the top 5 in points in the paint and added a glue horse in Elton Brand. So, immediately, he put an expensive slow player amidst thoroughbreds. Then, he hired a coach whose philosophy is for a deliberate offense, but he didn't re-tool the team enough to make it work. Somehow, he asked Eddie Jordan to work his magic amidst a bunch of players who were poorly suited for his philosophy. Make sense?

The Wachovia Center was dead this past season. Season ticket holders took a bath in the secondary market. The team won't project to win more than 30 games next year. The Allen Iverson gimmick failed miserably.